A Peasant in a Palace
by AlwaysHopelessRomantic95
Summary: SwanFire AU. Rumplestiltskin never became the Dark One, and was hence unable to save his son from the Ogre Wars. Young Baelfire manages to keep himself alive, and when the army arrives at the Royal Palace, he has an unexpected conversation with one of it's inhabitants.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N** : This a SwanFire AU story I wrote. It's written as if Rumple had never become the Dark One, and Bae was sent to fight in the Ogre Wars. There was no curse, so Princess Emma was born to Queen Snow and King David, and grew up in the Enchanted Forest during the Ogre Wars. Anyway, hope you enjoy!

Baelfire watched from beside his lonely campfire as the boy showed off the new pin on his uniform, and all his friends gathered around to admire it and express their jealousy. A purple banner on his sleeve. It marked him as one of the Captain's Rear Guards.

He was being moved off the front line. The other kids had a right to be jealous. The boy was safe. Bae eyed him with jealousy.

Slowly, the other kids got bored and returned to their own groups of friends around their own campfires, and Bae decided that was his chance to make a move. He stuck his shivering hand in his pocket, as much to warm it up as to make sure the items he had stowed there were still with him. He smiled to himself as he recounted the small treasure in his pocket, then got up and went over to the other boy's circle.

Bae sat down next to the other boy on a log placed a bit too close to the fire for comfort, and leaned close to him, whispering in his ear, "I hear you've been moved off the front lines."

The other boy grinned at him, and pulled away to show Bae is new patch.

"That's right I have, friend," he said condescendingly. "I'm part of the Captain's Rear Gard now."

Bae returned his smile, the smirk on his face hidden by the darkness and not revealed by the flickering firelight. He scooted over on the log, closing the gap the other boy had made between them, ensuring no one else would overhear him.

"Well, friend," Bae said, mocking the other boy's condescending use of the word. "I have a proposal for you."

Instantly, the other boy was interested, but, with typical teenage bravado, he attempted to remain nonchalant. "What's that?" he whispered, not quite managing to conceal his interest.

"You give me that purple banner of yours, and I'll give you something worth far more."

The boy snickered. "What could possibly be worth more than a position that takes me away from the front?" He laughed.

Once again, Bae grinned. Without a word, he pulled out a necklace from his pocket. On the thin chain was a small metal cross. Bae had seen the boy wearing it the week before, and heard him boast about how his father had given it to him to keep him safe in the war. _It's been blessed by a priest,_ the boy had told his friends, _and it means I'll make it home alive._ For the boy, the necklace had represented the one thing every child in the ogre wars ever wanted: hope.

But he'd lost it. In a card game.

An older boy had challenged him to a game of cards, and not being able to resist, the boy had foolishly gambled with the one thing he had, and the one thing he could not afford to lose.

"Where did you get that?" The boy shouted angrily, and Bae quickly shushed him before they caught the Captain's attention.

"Let's just say your gambling partner is a bit too loose with his possessions," Bae smiled.

The boy laughed. "You're a thief." Bae just shrugged, and the boy sighed. "Okay little thief. What do you want?"

"I already told you," Bae whispered. "I want your spot on the Rear Guard, and you can have your necklace back."

The boy's indecision was written all over his face. "You're too young to be on the Guard, the Captain will notice," he protested.

It was Bae's turn to laugh. "You're, what, maybe a year older than me? And he promoted you. There aren't that many soldiers left, so the Captain is resorting to promoting kids to his Guard. He has no choice. Believe me," he shrugged again, "he won't notice."

"And you're willing to risk your life on the assumption he won't? If he does, he could kill you."

Bae gave the other boy a resigned smile and sighed, "better to take my chances there than on the front line. Question is, are you willing to risk going back to the front line to have your precious necklace back?"

The other oy grinned, and Bae new he had him. "I'm the best fighter here," he boasted, and Bae knew it was more or less true. "I'll be fine." He unpinned the ribbon from his sleeve and held it out to Bae. "Now give me the necklace." Bae took the ribbon and handed over the necklace. He said no more, just nodded to the other boy and returned to his own lonely log by his fire.

The other boys in his squadron would have been so jealous, Bae thought with a sad smile. He missed the friends he had made here. Most of them had been killed, the others wounded and sent home. He was the only one left in Squadron 86. And soon, he thought, there would be no one left, because tomorrow he'd be marching with the rear guard.

As a precaution against the other thieving kids in the camp, Bae unpinned the ribbon from his sleeve and tucked it away in an inside pocket of his vest, where no one could reach in without waking him up. Then, wondering what it would be like to be off the front lines, Bae curled up in his dusty, threadbare blanket next to the fire and went to sleep.

* * *

Bae woke at the first sight of dawn the next morning, instantly awake in the way soldiers are taught to be. As he stretched and began to roll up his blanket and put out the remaining embers of his fire, he looked around at the bustling camp surrounding him. Everyone else was waking up too, and there was a feeling of mixed excitement and apprehension swelling throughout the camp.

Today was the day they were supposed to liberate the Royal Palace. There had been rumors that the ogres had surrounded the palace, and the Queen's guard did not have enough men to fight them off, trapping the Royal Family and their entire court inside. It was likely to be an ugly fight, but Bae was not worried. He wouldn't be in the midst of the fighting today.

Remembering the events of the previous evening, Bae pulled the ribbon out of his uniform and pinned it on his sleeve. He briefly wondered what it would be like to meet the Royal Family, but then pushed those thoughts aside. He was only a foot soldier; he's never meet them. Besides, he had more important things to worry about today.

He started to wonder what he was supposed to do. Every morning, his squadron leader had put them through the morning drills and then let them eat breakfast before leading them into formation and carrying on whatever duties their squadron was assigned for the day.

But his squadron leader had been killed yesterday.

The army had been marching toward the Palace in relative peace yesterday, when they had run into a surprise attack of ogres in the woods. It had been nearly lunchtime, and the front lines had stopped moving to settle down and eat, when the ogres had ambushed them. Most of the soldiers didn't even have time to draw their weapons, and what had been left of Squadron 86 had been decimated.

Except Baelfire.

He hadn't been sitting down when the ogres came; it was only through pure luck that he had been sorting through his arrows and tightening his bow at just the right time. He had managed to kill one of the ogres and follow the rest of the fleeing army down the hill and into the valley to where they currently were. He wasn't sure how the battle had ended, he had only done what he could to survive and gotten away. He'd tried to help his squadron leader, but by the time he'd killed the ogre that was coming after him, he was too late.

It was that night that Bae decided to change things. That's when he had gone after the other boy's necklace. He knew the boy had been promoted after the battle, and he also knew the older boy who had won his necklace in the card game. Bae figured that boy would be an easy mark, and he was right. He'd stolen his way to the Rear Guard.

That thought brought him back to reality, and he looked around the camp in momentary confusion. He was so used to following orders that he wasn't sure what to do.

Luckily, he caught sight of his Captain's elegant purple banner waving in the wind not far away, and he knew that meant his Guard would be close by. He packed up the rest of his meagre belongings and headed toward it.

As Bae approached the banner, he saw groups of older boys with purple banners on their sleeves lining up and preparing for morning drills. For a lack of something else to do, Bae headed toward them.

He was stopped by a tall man in a fancy uniform bearing the Captain's regalia.

"Hey, boy!" The man shouted, and Bae looked up at him, trying to look confident. "What's your name?"

Bae briefly wondered if he should give the man the other boy's name, but there had been so much confusion lately, he doubted the army actually kept records of who had been promoted, so he responded, as confidently as he could manage, "my name is Baelfire, sir."

"And what are you doing here, Baelfire?" The man demanded. "What squadron are you assigned to?"

Bae took a deep breath, stood up as tall as he could, and said, "I was in squadron 86, sir. But my squadron leader and the rest of my squadron were killed yesterday. I was promoted after the battle." He pointed to the banner on his sleeve. He was surprised at how easily he lied to the man. It's surprising what you'll do to keep yourself alive in the middle of an unwinnable war.

The man looked at him curiously. "86? You were on the front lines, then?"

Bae nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Hmm." The man eyed Bae, sizing him up. "A bit young to be on the Guard, aren't you?"

Bae shrugged. "Perhaps, sir," he said, "but I can shoot a straight arrow."

The man laughed. "I'd say you can, if you've managed to keep yourself alive this long on 86. Well, Baelfire, son of no noble I know of, welcome to the Rear Guard."

As the man turned to walk away, Bae said, "Rumplestiltskin."

The man turned back around. "What?"

"I'm Baelfire, son of Rumplestiltskin," he said, trying to make it sound like he belonged with people of noble lineage.

"Like I said," the man grinned, "no noble I know of."

* * *

The next day was a blur for Baelfire. He marched with the Guard as the army advanced on the surrounded Palace, but as he suspected, they were kept out of the fighting. He had expected it to be a restful day, but instead he found himself put through drills any time they weren't marching.

When the rest of the army broke for lunch, the Guard did sword drills. When the rest of the army got closer to the Palace, the Guard ran marching drills. When Bae could see the towering stone walls of the Palace and hear the awful sounds of fighting not far away, the Guard did archery drills. Most of it Bae couldn't remember, as he'd spent most of the day trying to keep up with the older, bigger boys.

The one part of the day he did remember, however, was, toward dusk, when a loud triumphant cheer had rung up from the valley surrounding the Palace. The Rear Guard had been over a hill about a quarter of a mile away, and thus were unable to see the actual battle take place. They could hear it, though. And they heard it when they won.

Excited chatter started spreading though the Guard as they wondered what had happened.

"Did we actually win?"

"Is the Palace free?"

"What do we do now?"

"I hope my kid brother made it out."

For his part, Bae was too tired to think or say much of anything, other than to hope that the end of the battle meant the end of running drills for the day. He followed along as the Guard broke their drills formations and started crowding around their Captain, hoping for news. Bae heard someone yell that a messenger was coming over the hill, so he waited in anticipation for news.

He didn't have to wait long.

Bae was too far back to hear what the messenger actually said, but the message was relayed through the ranks of the Guards as the 50 or so voices there proclaimed: The Palace is free!

Baelfire celebrated with the rest of the Guard, laughing and talking to whoever he found himself next to, until the Captain called for them all to calm down. Slowly, the men and boys quieted, wondering what other news their Captain had for them.

"In appreciation for freeing her family, Queen Snow as invited me to dine with the Royal Family tonight," he said, and Bae had to resist snickering. Of course the Captain would be invited to the Palace, although he hadn't actually done any of the fighting.

Bae's frustration with the Captain was put out by the Captain's next words.

"Cheer up boys, you'll be sleeping in the Palace tonight!"


	2. Chapter 2

Upon entering the Palace, Bae's first thought was that he had never seen such a lavish place before.

His second thought was how tired he was. He followed the rest of the Guard as they were led around the Palace by a servant, until he found himself in the largest bathroom he had ever seen. He heard the servant tell them to each shower, and he'd bring in new, clean uniforms for them shortly.

In a sleepy haze, Bae washed off, and when he exited the shower he had been using, found a new, deep royal purple uniform on a bench outside. He picked it up, thinking he'd never owned anything made of fabric this expensive, and began to inspect it. The Captain's banner was on the sleeve, and their army insignia on the front left breast pocket.

Bae heard someone laugh to his right, and he glanced over to see most of the other boys inspecting their uniforms as well. The boy who had laughed called out, "about time the Captain's Rear Guard had proper uniforms, eh boys?" He laughed again, and Bae added his voice to the choir of agreements buzzing the room.

One voice rang above them all, and Bae looked to his left to find it came from the boy standing next to him. "Look!" The boy called, and instantly had everyone's attention. "They have our names on it!" He laughed and leaned over to Bae, showing him the right breast pocket of his uniform,

"Pretty cool, huh?" The boy asked Bae, and Bae nodded, still looking at the uniform in the boy's hand. In beautiful gold script, it read "Maximillian, son Sir John of East End of the Enchanted Forest."

 _Son of no noble I know of,_ the voice rang in Bae's head. He could tell the boy next to him expected Bae to show him his own inscription, but he didn't. For some reason, he didn't want the others to know he wasn't a noble.

 _What, are you ashamed to be a peasant, Baelfire?_ He chastised himself. But, even if he didn't want to admit it, he was ashamed.

Nervously, Bae glanced down at the crisp uniform in his hands. The gold inscription on the pocket read "Baelfire, son of Rumplestiltskin". Bae grinned and laughed to himself in surprise. He hadn't thought the commander yesterday had paid any attention to what he said. Suddenly, Bae was very glad he hadn't given the man the other boy's name.

 _I can't wait to show papa!_ Bae thought, _he'll be so proud!_

And then, for the first time since he had hugged his worried papa goodbye, Bae began to feel homesick.

While all the other boys around him celebrated their new uniforms and their baths and the privilege of sleeping inside tonight, Bae found himself missing his papa and his home. He followed the boys through the Palace to a dining room, where an elaborate dinner had been set out for them. Since he was quite hungry and hadn't had a real meal since he left, Bae at his fill, but he found he couldn't be as excited about it as the other boys were.

He was wishing his papa were there, so he could tell him that he'd made it on to the Rear Guard, and had his name inscribed on a purple uniform.

As the other boys finished eating and went outside to play some games on the Palace lawn, Bae stayed behind, looking around the palace and wishing he could share it with his papa. He was sure his papa had never seen a place as grand as this, and he'd be amazed.

Eventually, it grew dark, and the other boys returned to the Palace to sleep. Bae followed them to their sleeping quarters, and unrolled his dusty old bedroll and settled down to sleep. By the time Bae got comfortable, he could hear the other boys snoring around him.

But, as tired as he was, Bae couldn't sleep. He'd never been homesick before, so why now? He wasn't sure, but his heart ached for his comfy little cottage and the smell of his papa's cooking over the fire. They didn't have much, but Bae wouldn't have traded it for the world.

With a sigh, Bae reached back to his pack and pulled out his shawl. His mother had made it for him, and on the day he had left his papa had told him to wrap up in it whenever he was homesick. In squadron 86, they'd camped out in the mud and the dirt in front of campfires, and Bae hadn't gotten the shawl out because he didn't want it to get dirty. It was all he had left of his mother, and out here it was all he had of his home. And besides, he hadn't been homesick before, so he hadn't needed it.

But tonight he did. And tonight he was in the cleanest place he had ever seen. There wasn't even a speck of dust on the Palace floor. So, he pulled out the shawl and wrapped it around his shoulders, putting the ends up to his face and relishing in the remembered scent of home.

Bae lay there on the floor with his companions for a while, but he still couldn't sleep. Every time he drifted off, he'd hear his papa's voice in his head, "come back to me safe, Bae," he'd pleaded _. I will papa,_ Bae thought, _I will._

Determined to shake off his homesickness, and maybe tire himself out more in the process, Bae got up and walked away from the sleeping quarters. He winced as the door out squeaked, but his companions were so tired no one woke up.

Bae wandered around the Palace for a while, until he felt a breeze of fresh air blow past him. He looked over, and saw an open balcony to his left. For a lack of something better to do, Bae walked over and stood at the railing, looking at the army camped all around the Palace far below.

Then, he looked up at the stars. Their familiar pattern made him feel a bit better. He'd spent many nights with this papa outside, looking up at the stars, and he knew that if his papa looked up right now, he'd be seeing the same thing. That thought made Bae feel a little better, and he stood there on the balcony looking up at the sky for some time.

Lost in thought and fatigue, Bae jumped and turned around when he heard a voice behind him.

He was surprised when he saw a girl about his own age standing there. She was dressed in a beautiful, flowing pink and gold gown and had a head of blonde hair that shimmered in the moonlight. Bae stood there in shock for a minute; there weren't any girls in the army, and he hadn't met a girl his own age since he left.

After a minute it occurred to Bae that the girl had asked him a question, but he had been so surprised he hadn't heard what she had said.

"I-I'm sorry," Bae stammered, "what did you say?"

The girl laughed, and, despite himself, Bae smiled back. "Shouldn't you be asleep?" she repeated.

"Oh," Bae shrugged. "I couldn't sleep." He couldn't really think of anything else to say, so he just waited.

"Oh," the girl smiled, "me neither." She walked past him and leaned out over the bannister, as Bae had been doing only moments before. He wasn't sure who she was or what he was supposed to do, so he walked over and leaned over the bannister to the girl's left.

"Why couldn't you sleep?" she asked him suddenly.

Embarrassed, Bae's face reddened. He couldn't come up with a lie fast enough, so he settled for the truth. "I, uh, I was thinking about home." _Where's the courageous soldier who lied to the commander yesterday?_ He mocked himself. He decided to blame it on lack of sleep.

"Oh," the girl said again. "You must be far from home." She looked over at him, and Bae, still embarrassed, kept looking out over the land and simply nodded. "Where are you from?" She asked.

Bae shrugged. "A small village to the north of here."

"A village?" She asked, surprised.

Bae had forgotten he was supposed to pretend to be a noble. He mentally kicked himself, then sighed. "Yes," he said. "I'm not a noble."

Then, to Bae's surprise, the girl put a hand on his right shoulder and pushed it back, forcing him to turn toward her. He wasn't sure what she was doing, and frowned in confusion, until he saw she was trying to read the inscription on his uniform.

"'Baelfire, son of Rumple…'" She frowned at the unfamiliar name.

"Rumplestiltskin," Bae provided.

"Rump-le-stilt-skin," the girl tried, rolling the unfamiliar syllables around on her tongue. "Ba-el-fi-re." She laughed. "What interesting names!"

"Told you," Bae said, "I'm a peasant."

She didn't seem to care. "Baelfire. Such a long name. Surely you have a nickname?"

Bae found himself smiling at her again. "My papa calls me Bae," he offered.

"Bae," she said. "I like that."

He couldn't think of a response to that, so he just stayed silent. After a moment, the girl continued. "Well, if you're a peasant and you're from a village, why are you homesick, Bae?"

Bae was surprised by her question, and he thought about it for a moment before responding. "Well," he said, "my papa and I don't have much, and it's just the two of us." She gave him a confused look, and he clarified, "my mom was killed by pirates."

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said, looking sad.

Bae shrugged, looking back out over the bannister again. "It's okay," he replied. "It may not be the best, but I have my papa and he has me, and that's all you need for a happy home." Bae's words were laced with sadness, and the girl looked away. "So," Bae continued, "even though I may live in a poor village, it's my home. And I guess that's how you know you've really got a home. When you leave it, you just miss it."

The girl nodded, and looked back at the young soldier with a new appreciation in her eyes. She held out her hand. "I'm Emma," she said.

It was only then that Baelfire realized he'd been talking to the Princess of the Enchanted Forest.


	3. Chapter 3

For a second, Bae just stood there, blinking in astounded confusion and at a total loss for what to say.

The second must have gone on a bit too long for comfort, because Emma dropped her hand and laughed, shaking her head slightly so that her blonde curls shook. "What?" she asked with laugher in her voice. "Cat got your tongue now?"

Bae laughed too, more in humiliation than in actual hilarity. "No," he said. "I – I just didn't know you were…"

"The Princess?" Emma laughed again.

Bae simply nodded.

"Well," Emma continued, "you are in the Royal Palace, Baelfire," she teased. "Who else did you expect to find here?"

"Um…" Bae didn't know what to say.

Emma, sensing his discomfort, grinned and said, "well, I don't suppose you've been in very many royal palaces have you?"

"No, Your Highness," Bae said, shaking his head.

"Emma," she said again.

Bae just continued to stare at her.

"You can call me Emma."

"Oh, right," Bae stammered. "Sorry…. Emma."

"Well, Bae," Emma said, using her new friend's nickname, "would you like to see the Palace?" She grinned at him conspiratorially.

"Yes!" Bae grinned. "I'd love to!"

"Wonderful," Emma smiled, and, to Bae's surprise, looped her arm through his and lead him off the balcony and back into the Palace.

Once inside, they had to lower their voices. "Will they miss you back in the soldiers' quarters?" Emma whispered.

Bae shook his head, leaning closer to her to whisper back. "I doubt it. They don't exactly keep count of us all the time. Besides," he sighed, "we had a long day. Everyone is asleep. That's how I managed to sneak out."

Emma smiled. "Good." She pulled Bae's arm and lead him through the dark, cold corridors of the Palace, trying to stay as quiet as she could.

After a few minutes of walking, Bae leaned over to Emma's ear again and whispered, "where are we going?"

She only smiled. "You'll see." In fact, she was taking him to one of her favorite places in the Palace, and as they walked she prayed to every deity she could think of that the room would be empty. She knew the Palace was preparing for the Royal Ball, but surely at this hour the servants would all be asleep?

A few moments later, they arrived in front of two towering, golden double doors, and Bae looked up in wonder. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped as he took in the sight before him, feeling quite small and dirty in comparison to the doors in front of him.

Emma risked a quiet giggle. "Stop gaping," she teased, "those are only the doors, silly."

Bae's cheeks reddened, but he smiled in spite of himself. "The doors to what?" he whispered.

Emma didn't respond, she just pulled him forward and slowly pushed open the doors. They both winced as it squeaked open, but after that the halls returned to silence. The room in front of them was completely dark, except for one torch glowing on the wall next to them. Bae still had no idea where they were, and was about to ask again, when Emma suddenly dropped his arm, walked over to the wall, and grabbed the torch off it.

"What are you doing?" Bae whispered, afraid they'd attract attention and get caught.

Once again Emma answered him only with a smile, and leaned the torch down to the ground.

Then the room lit on fire.

The fire from the torch caught on what looked to Bae like a rather long horse trough, except this one ran the entire length of the room. The fire raced down the path, lighting the entire room as it went.

Bae found himself gaping again.

"Cliché, I know," Emma said. "Welcome to the Ballroom."

Bae looked around, taking a few steps into the room and stopping. He was pretty sure he had never been in a room as large as this in his whole life. Even the Captain's celebration tent was dwarfed in comparison to the room he found himself in now.

Emma didn't seem to notice his wonder. "The decorations are for the Ball," she explained, pointing to purple and gold banners running the length of the room, and matching curtains covering each massive window. "My parents are hosting the Royal Ball this weekend. That's why we needed you to come save us. We couldn't host a ball when the Palace was surrounded by ogres."

At the mention of the ogres, Bae snapped out of his trance and looked back to Emma. "What about ogres?"

She laughed again. "Did you hear what I just said?"

Bae's face reddened again. "Um…. Something about a ball and Ogres?" He said apologetically.

Emma giggled. "This is the ballroom, where my parents will be hosting the Royal Ball this weekend. That's why it was so urgent you come and fight off the ogres, so we could have the Ball."

"Oh," was the only response Bae could think of.

"Did you fight the ogres?" Emma asked.

"Yes," Bae said. "But not today." He could see Emma's confusion, so he explained. "I used to be on the front lines of the army. Each time we went to battle, my squadron was one of the first to face the ogres," he tried to sound brave and hide the fear he had felt each time he was on the front.

"But, yesterday," he continued, "the rest of my squadron was killed, and I…" he didn't want to lie to her, but the truth wasn't very honorable either. "I became part of the Captain's Rear Guard. We stay behind the army and protect the Captain. So today I didn't have to fight."

Emma's face was a mix of astonishment and excitement. "So you protect the Captain?"

Bae nodded. "That's how I came to be in the Palace tonight."

"That's wonderful!" Emma said in an excited whisper. "Such an honorable position! Your papa must be so proud."

Bae shook his head sadly. "Nothing about war is honorable," he said, and frowned. "But I hope my Papa would be proud, if he knew. I hope to one day make it back home and tell him."

"You will," Emma said with confidence, and Bae's face lifted.

They stood there smiling shyly at each other for a minute, until they heard footsteps and voices approaching the doors on the opposite side of the Ballroom. Emma jumped, and grabbed Bae's arm again, pulling him back out of the room. He helped her close the huge golden doors behind them, and they took off running back down the halls, until they emerged from the darkness out onto the silvery, moonlit balcony where they had met.

Once they had caught their breath, Emma and Bae looked up at each other and burst into laughter. "I thought we were caught for sure!" Bae laughed.

"I did too!" Responded Emma. "I was already trying to figure out how I was going to explain being caught in the Ballroom with a soldier in the middle of the night!"

For the first time since he'd seen her on the balcony, Bae realized how bad it would look for them if anyone had caught them. "I – I should probably get back…" he stammered, "I wouldn't want to get you in trouble."

Emma smiled sadly. "Nor I you," she said.

Neither of them could think of anything else to say, but neither wanted their sneaky, magical night to end. After a moment, Emma said, "Well, goodnight, Baelfire," still playing with the unfamiliar, captivating sound of his name.

Bae smiled, and did his best impression of the bows he had seen other men give his Captain. "Good night, Princess Emma," he said.

Emma giggled, curtseyed back, and then, before he could say anything else, she disappeared back into the dark halls of the Palace. Bae sighed, taking one last, wistful look at the balcony, and made his way slowly back to the sleeping quarters. Once there, he found his bedroll again, put his treasured shawl back in his pack, and curled up and went to sleep.


End file.
